This is a zine dedicated to black metal written by a follower of the left hand path, This zine has been around in a different format for a while and I have decided to make an edition for www.blogger.com, for more information email occultblackmetalzine@yahoo.com, new albums as well as classic albums will be reviewed on here as long as their good quality black metal,

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Dunnock are a band from San Francisco, California that plays a very raw, depressive and atmospheric form of black metal and this is a review of their 2013 album "A Forest Of Shattered Promise" which was released by Acephale Winter Productions.

"...Freezing From The Rain" begins with nature sounds and a few seconds later synths and sound effects start kicking in and after awhile distorted drone sounds become a part of the song with this track serving as an intro for the album and towards the end there is a brief spoken word part.

"Etched Upon" begins with some distorted effects and a few seconds later drums and grim black metal vocals make their way into the song as well as some primitive guitar riffs and depressive synths and a few seconds later there is a brief use of melodic vocals and the song closes with some spoken word samples.

"Dwells In Mud" begins with some heavy drone style black metal guitar riffs, drums and depressive screams and a minute later synths become a part of the song briefly before going to a heavy drone sound but t he song closes with the synths.

"She Was Cold" begins with some primitive black metal guitar riffs and blast beats along with some clean singing male and female vocals coming in a few seconds later and a minute later synths and spoken word parts take over for a few seconds before the music returns to its heavy roots and after awhile you can hear some grim black metal vocals.

"No Escape In Dreaming" begins with some sound effects and synths making this song more ambient sounding along with some spoken word parts a few seconds later which have torture sounds to them.

"With Raven Feathers' begins with some slow depressive black metal guitar riffs, drums and high pitched screams and go into a faster direction a few seconds later and then s tarts switching back and forth between slow, mid paced and fast parts as well as mixing in atmospheric and drone elements and after awhile it slows down and violins and synths take control along with some spoken word samples and a few minutes later it reverts back to a primitive black metal sound along with a brief use of guitar leads.

"I Told You I Was Sick" begins with some slow depressive black metal guitar riffs, drums, and grim screams along with a drone like atmospheric background and a minute later clean singing makes its presence known briefly and combines with the black metal screams and then t he drums start speeding up a bit before going more into a drone and harsh noise direction along with some violins becoming a part of the mix.

"Howling In The Wind" begins with fast primitive lo-fi black metal guitar riffs, drums and heavy nature sounds and the song is only a minute long and a minute later 1920's style pianos close the song.

Song lyrics cover dark and depressive themes, while the production has a very dark, raw and primitive sound with some of the songs being long and epic in length.

In my opinion Dunnock are a very great sounding original, weird, atmospheric, raw and depressive black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Etched Upon" and "I Told You I Was Sick". RECOMMENDED BUY.